MINING REFINING

Singapore's Boroo plans nearly US$400mn in modifications at Peru gold mine

Mon May 26 2025

Boroo Misquichilca, a Peruvian gold miner with Singaporean owners, is preparing US$382mn of works at its Lagunas Norte operation in La Libertad region.

According to a report from the company, the work will focus on optimizing the processing of carbonaceous minerals and the leaching systems. The former will require US$212mn, while the leaching work will cost US$76mn.

Boroo Misquichilca submitted the document, known as the sixth technical sustainability report (ITS), to environmental certification body Senace. Approval is expected to take three or four months. Lagunas Norte used to be owned by Canada's Barrick Mining but passed into Boroo's hands in 2021 under a deal valued at US$307mn – US$81mn for the mine and US$226mn in liabilities.

According to the report, the main reason for the investments is to ensure long-term production, which has been declining. According to the energy and mines ministry, Booro Misquichilca produced 1.30Mg of gold (41,864oz) in the first quarter of this year, down from 2.16Mg in the same period 2024.

"The current carbon in leach (CIL) mineral processing process is showing deficiencies in metal recovery… this can be mitigated by using a high temperature caustic conditioning (HITECC) system, which consists of increasing the temperature of the CIL process pulp to increase gold and silver recovery.… The modification will not increase the approved capacity of the processing plant of 70,000t/d," the report says.

The report was prepared by environmental consulting firm Yaku Consultores and can be downloaded in the Documents box in the top-right corner of the screen.

According to the ITS, Boroo has proposed 12 modifications in total. 

Except for the change to the HITECC system, which is due to happen in 2028-29, all work will be carried out in 2026 and 2027. The project will require up to 113 workers.

Source: https://www.bnamericas.com